TWO AGAINST THE UNDERWORLD
The Complete Unauthorised Guide to The Avengers Series 1
by Richard McGinlay, Alan Hayes and Alys Hayes

Forewords by Roger Marshall and Neil Hendry

If you think you’ve read the definitive account of THE AVENGERS’ lost year... think again!

Two Against the Underworld brings together six years of research and combines and updates two previously published Hidden Tiger books (The Strange Case of the Missing Episodes and With Umbrella, Scotch and Cigarettes) to tell the story of The Avengers from both sides of the camera.

Authors Richard McGinlay, Alan Hayes and Alys Hayes lift the lid on all 26 Series 1 episodes. Comprehensive chapters detail the narratives in extended synopsis form, often with script extracts, as well as the production, transmission and reception of each episode, and the talented personnel who were involved in making them.

The creation of The Avengers, the departure of Ian Hendry, the series' destiny, and the mystery of the missing episodes, are explored in a series of essays, each of which is new or has been revisited to incorporate fresh information.

Avengers scriptwriter Roger Marshall and Neil Hendry, who runs his uncle Ian Hendry's official website, both contribute forewords to this volume. The book also boasts lavish black-and-white illustrations by artist Shaqui Le Vesconte and 70 pages of appendices that deal in depth with the unproduced episodes of Series 1, Keel and Steed's further adventures in the comic strip The Drug Pedlar and the novel Too Many Targets, and much more.

For the sake of clarity, I am adding the following from the main forum area:

The word count is expanded by a modest amount (something like 5,000 words), but what that hides is the amount of repeated text that was in both books, which at least equals that 5,000, too.

A fair bit of the rest of the book has been tweaked, and some content is completely new.

This is from the preface, which explains what has changed in less abstract terms:

Quote:

Two Against the Underworld brings the books The Strange Case of the Missing Episodes and With Umbrella, Scotch and Cigarettes together under one cover, interweaving, updating and adding to the content to make it the ultimate guide to Series 1. We have been careful to correct inaccuracies that were found in the original books and have also taken heed of feedback received.

Some commentators bemoaned the lack of story synopses in The Strange Case of the Missing Episodes for the two surviving Series 1 episodes, Girl on the Trapeze and The Frighteners, and detailed summaries have consequently been added to Two Against the Underworld. We have also taken the opportunity to check through the existing synopses, paying special attention to the nine scriptless episodes (Nightmare, Crescent Moon, Diamond Cut Diamond, Hunt the Man Down, Death on the Slipway, Tunnel of Fear, The Far Distant Dead, The Deadly Air and Dragonsfield).

In the episode guide section, we have revised and augmented production information and other subsections, where appropriate. We have also addressed some errors on our part about the way in which ITV transmissions reached Ireland in 1961. We would like to thank archive researcher Ken Griffin for putting us right on this subject.

In the essays, we have added fresh information about One-Ten, Ian Hendry’s marriage to Janet Munro, and significant details about the missing episodes, particularly in terms of potential foreign sales of Series 1, overseas distribution, and the fate of the ABC archive. Dave Matthews and Neil Hendry have been of great assistance to us in the exploration of this fascinating topic. The essay entitled Gone, and Never Called Me Mother! is completely new.

Additionally, we have updated the Merchandise Guide to bring it bang up to date to include details about the 2015 Blu-ray and DVD releases.

I am quite embarrassed to post this considering that people have just ordered with 15% or 20% discounts, but Lulu have unexpectedly just followed up with a 25% code - SHOP25 - and this runs until midnight on the 23rd.

I am enjoying the new/updated book. The gauntlet is laid down early on with the suggestion that possibly Season/Series 1 can be favourably compared to the various later ones. Personally, I enjoy the relationship between Keel and Steed. However, what makes The Avengers different from other shows isn't simply Two Against the Underworld but the dynamics between a man and a woman who is mentally and physically more agile than him. Season/Series 1 cannot offer that. It doesn't make the first 26 episodes bad, but it does make them less revolutionary.
I have a strange feeling that more Season/Series 1 episodes will emerge, giving us a chance to make more of a comparison. However, in the mean time this is another first class publication._________________The Avengers: a product of the sixties and a timeless piece of sublime art

You've misread (or at least misreported) that comment about Series 1 comparing favourably. We said "Series 1 episodes", i.e. on an individual basis, compared to those of other eras; we did not suggest that Series 1 as a whole could be favourably compared to other eras in terms of its originality.

The comment is in reaction to the suggestion proliferated by the likes of Brian Clemens and influential fan commentators that Series 1 was "rubbish". It plainly wasn't. It wasn't revolutionary, but it was a decent drama series at that point - just not one that stretched itself as much as the show did in subsequent years (and one would expect series to find their feet over a period of time, particularly ones that were created in a flurry over the space of a couple of months as The Avengers was).

What the comment is saying is that Series 1 episodes, for instance Girl on the Trapeze (which we can see as well as read about), are every bit as well-written as the perceived classics from later in the series, and that is something that we feel needs to be said.

Something else that should be said is that the book is still available at a hefty discount using the LULURC code at checkout. Save 25% and qualify for free priority shipping. _________________Alan
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Hidden Tiger Books